Last Few Days in Paris (delayed post)
Saturday
We’ve decided to spend a little bit more time doing our own thing in Paris instead of always sticking together. First thing in the morning I went to go get a shave. I found a place right down the road where the barber shaved my head for 8 EUR. That’s the cheapest I’ve ever seen it outside of Southeast Asia. He did an amazing job too with the straightedge. It was a little difficult to communicate with him as he is one of the few people who I have met who didn’t speak any English. We figured it out though.
I haven’t been feeling super hot the whole time in Paris. It could be the change in weather or just the constant moving around of this trip. It could also be sleeping on a crummy couch/futon but I don’t want to complain as the bed was offered. I got some ibuprofen and spent most of the day just lazing around the flat. Brody - a friend from school who also happened to be in Paris this week - showed up and we went to another cafe, get more hot chocolate, and then watched Captain America (perfect moving for France I know) in a really cool old Theater. There are three levels of seats although the bottom two are for live performances. Of course these were the much more comfortable seats and I was close to taking a nap. We moved up to the top level for the movie and were rewarded with a ceiling of stars and moving clouds.
Sunday
We went to church in the city and it was a mixed French and English ward so talks and prayers varied depending on who was speaking. We immediately headed outside the city to Versailles. We probably had our least favorite food of the trip in a little crepe place before we entered. This place was packed - perhaps not too surprisingly on a Sunday afternoon. Outside in the gardens though this was a non-issue as the place is massive. It takes upwards of 20 minutes to walk from the palace to the German village where Marie Antoinette stayed most of the time. I loved the peace and quiet that was found just walking around the streams and lakes and across bridges. It was almost like an escape from modern life for a few moments. The fountains came on - they are usually off - and were accompanied by classical music which was just divine. I felt like everyone should be in powdered wigs and wearing fancy clothes.
The line into the palace itself was super long even a couple of hours before closing. Even worse the inside was a packed mess with too many people even to see some of the displays and move around the rooms. I would definitely recommend not going on a weekend or during a busy day as it makes it quite unenjoyable. We had steak and frites for dinner - all you can eat - and it was another long wait as apparently they have dinner shifts that mean we couldn’t eat till 8 when earlier customers had left. Also - perhaps due to my illness - I was freeing cold waiting outside. But it was decent food for a low price.
Monday
This was another do it yourself day. Everyone went to do their own thing. I went to the Pere Cemetery where many famous people are buried such as Chopin and Jim Morrison. It’s a large, beautiful cemetery with many old graves and tombs. There is a peacefulness found there that’s welcome after the bustle of the city. I also went to Saint Chappelle, which is another old church with incredible stained glass windows completely covering the walls telling various stories from the Bible. It wasn’t the biggest church we have visited but very unique and pretty. I went home and relaxed and then met up with my friends back in Montmartre. Janice got her silhouette done by a famous artist (or maybe not so famous). It looked like a floating head on fire for a while, but turned out very nice in the end. There was a cafe nearby where we stopped for dinner. This is definitely one of my favorite things about Paris. So many different little hole in the wall places with excellent dinners and just very quaint. We were really packed in too. The entire dining area was maybe the size of a small living room.
Tuesday
Unfortunately I left early as I just wasn’t feeling great and was having back pains as well. It was still an amazing adventure with great friends.
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